My Dear Kismesis:  Tales of Love and Hate
by Total Drama Addict
Summary: An anthology of Homestuck. Trolls, humans, and anyone else I feel like putting in here. Next is a story that's actually more along the lines of a TerezixDave story. I HOPE YOU DANCE.
1. My D34r K1sm3s1s

**A/N** HOMESTUCK! hee hee hee... by the way, every time Gamzee says 'mother', or 'mothering', that's not really what he's saying. I think you guys know what I mean...

Holy crap, this turned out R34LLY long... :)

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><p>Terezi had to estimate where the head and shirt were on the picture. She could smell the picture, but couldn't smell where she was drawing until it was too late. She at least got close. The short, nubby horns and gray sign reminded her of Karkat. She hoped he would understand. She flipped the paper over and started to write.<p>

_My dear Kismesis,_

No, no, no. That couldn't be right. Claiming Karkat as her Kismesis like that had to be wrong, and yet nothing had ever felt more right. But was that really their relationship? Sometimes she felt like she was his Moirail, keeping an eye on him and making sure he didn't do anything stupid. Other times, it was like she was his Auspistice, mediating between him and the other trolls.

And then, above all, a part of her was sure she was none of those things. Part of her felt like she was in fact his Matesprit. The thought left her breathless and uncertain of reality, more so than any of the other feelings. She recalled the times he'd actually been kind to her. Like when she'd witnessed Jack killing doomed Dave, and he'd tried to comfort her before she'd run out of the room in tears.

Perhaps there was no real name to their relationship, and trying to force one on it was what made it feel so wrong. Perhaps it was not a Matespritship, a Moirailegiance, a Kismesissitude, or an Auspisticism. Perhaps it was a mixture of two, or even three. Or maybe it was one of those rare relationships that only existed in Tavros's fairy stories. The ones that slipped the bonds of the four quadrants, and became their own quadrant, or maybe the correct word was quindrant.

What would one call a relationship like that? A Moiraspritmesisticism? No, that sounded stupid. With a heavy sigh, she looked back at her letter. All she had written was the opening, where she had claimed Karkat as her Kismesis. She guessed that relationships could change. Like Aradia and Equius. One moment they'd be a Kismesissitude, the next they'd be a Matespritship. Maybe that was how it was.

She guessed that she couldn't really be Karkat's Moirail. Not with Gamzee around, anyway. That ruled out the quindrant mix.

But what a mix that would be! In Tavros's story, ancient quindrant mixes between reds and blues created the first Highbloods. If she and Karkat had that, perhaps they could re-write the social hierarchy. A mix of the two most delectable bloods, red and green. Like twelfth perigree's eve. That lucky little wriggler would head the new order, would be even above the royal purples, the Gamzees and Eridans and Feferis of the world.

She laughed. That wasn't true and wouldn't happen. Tavros's story was mythical. Relationships did not ascend past the bounds of the four quadrants. And a mix of red and green would simply make an ugly brown. But sometimes she liked to imagine.

_Okay, Terezi. Get back to the letter._ She thought. _You can play fairytale world later, in a dream bubble with Tavros's spirit. Hopefully Vriska won't interfere this time..._

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><p>Karkat finished ranting about the futility of their situation to Sollux, and went back to his desk in a rage. He thought about trolling one of the humans again, but it just didn't seem worth it. They were all going to die, anyways. He heard a soft honking in the background, followed by shuffling footsteps and a grunt. He remembered how he had left one of Sollux's bodies on the ground. He cursed under his breath.<p>

"Gamzee, put Sollux's body down." Karkat said without turning around. He heard a dragging sound. His voice rose. "Gamzee, you better not be taking that body."

A moment of silence. And then, the dragging sound started up again, with a few honks for accompaniment. He turned around, cursing again when he saw Gamzee almost to the door, still dragging the body.

"You put that body down this instant! I told you, I'd take care of it in a minute!" he yelled. Gamzee dropped the body and walked over to him. He began patting Karkat on the shoulder and shooshing him. Karkat shoved him away. "What the heck are you doing?"

"I'm pulling a Karkat." Gamzee said. "Honk!"

Karkat's blood was boiling. "You're pulling a Karkat?" he asked, angrily.

"Yeah, I'm all calming you all down, cause I'm all your mothering Moirail, mother!" Gamzee said.

"Get out of here." Karkat demanded. "And don't you dare touch that body on the way out. I don't want to have to picture you having sloppy makeouts with my best friend's corpse."

"No problem. I'm all getting out of your personal space and all." Gamzee said. He started to leave.

"And will you stop saying all so much?" Karkat asked.

"I'm not all making any mothering promises on that one!" Gamzee said. "Oh, and you best be all reading that note!"

"What note?" Karkat asked.

"The one all on your desk? The one that says 'My dear Kismesis'?" Gamzee said. "I didn't even know you had a mothering Kismesis!"

"I..." Karkat started. He glanced down at his desk and saw the note, written in gray in all caps, like he normally wrote. At the top, just as Gamzee had said, were the words 'My dear Kismesis'.

"Unless you all up and wrote that to your mothering Kismesis, in the which case I still wouldn't be all knowing who that was. But then you would be all delivering it to the mother instead of reading it." Gamzee said. Then he left. Karkat turned back to his desk and picked up the letter with trembling fingers.

Did he have a Kismesis? And if so, who was it? Certainly, it had to be one of the trolls still alive. Kanaya, Sollux, Gamzee, Terezi, or Aradia. At least, that's who he thought was still alive. Sometimes it was hard to tell if Kanaya was really alive. Aradia too.

Kanaya didn't really hate him, not like a Kismesis. He didn't really hate her, either. Aradia's Kismesis had been Equius, but perhaps she felt lonely now that Gamzee had killed him. Nah.

Gamzee was his Moirail. Sollux was his best friend. And Terezi?

Every time he approached that conundrum, it left him with a migraine. There was no good descriptive word for how he felt about her. At one time, he'd thought his feelings were somewhere in the flushed quadrant, but after that fight in his respiteblock, it was hard to tell. That had been way back in the day, though. He took a deep breath and started reading.

_My dear Kismesis,_

_Or are you even my Kismesis? It may be wrong for me to call you that, but at the same time, it has never felt more right. Yes, there are times when I feel we are a Kismesissitude, for we fight more often than not. But there are some times when I feel like we are a Moirailegiance, though I soon remember Gamzee. And still other times, I feel like your Auspistice, mediating between you and the others. And then there are the times that leave me breathless and uncertain of reality, the times that make my skin hot like yours. The times that make me tremble in fear, and yet I want to cry out for joy._

_The times I feel you may very well be my Matesprit._

_I often remember something those times. Something that always held me back, that kept me from revealing those feelings in the past. Those flushed feelings. Those thrice accursed flushed feelings. Those hated, stupid, beautiful, wonderful flushed feelings. I'd rather feel pale or black than red. Anything but red. And yet..._

_And yet, it is part of our relationship. It's almost as if our relationship is a well-shuffled deck of human cards, and every time we cross paths, a new card is drawn. And whichever quadrant's symbol is on that card decides how we interact. There's a one in four chance it will be the one we want. Whether hearts, diamonds, spades, or clubs, it's like we absolutely have to stick to the symbols on the card drawn._

_And that won't change unless we decide for ourselves. I have already established that I don't know which quadrant we're in, but I instead feel like we toggle randomly through the grid. So I leave it to you to decide. Simply choose the quadrant that suits your fancy, and I will apply my whole heart to your choice. If you choose the hearts, I will be the best Matesprit you've ever had. If you choose spades, I'll be your best Kismesis. Clubs, and I'll devote all my time to keeping the peace between you and the others. Diamonds, and... well... I'm sure Gamzee will understand._

_Make your choice, Karkat. I'll be waiting._

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><p>Terezi went back to her desk after leaving it for a long enough time. She was certain that Karkat had to have answered her note by then. She hadn't signed it, but she knew he was smart enough to figure out who it was from. Sure enough, there was a small note sitting on her desk. She felt unsteady, and sat down in her computer chair. With shaking hands, she lifted the paper. She sniffed it cautiously. Karkat had sprayed nasty smells on notes to her before.<p>

But the paper just smelled like eggshells and seafoam. Green, like her blood. Like the color she wrote in. He had gotten it, alright. It had felt weird to write in all gray caps, without the numerals of the blind prophets, but she had done it to throw him off a little. Like how he did it to mask the color of his blood. The sweet candy red she loved so much. She often wondered why no one else liked his blood. Why he was an outcast because of it. Dave's blood was that color. What difference did it really make? They were the last twelve... no, six trolls in existence, so why did blood still matter?

Because that was how they were raised. That had to be it. Old habits die hard.

She couldn't read the words on the paper by sniffing alone. She tried and tried, but it was too blurry. She licked the paper where the words were, and gasped. Karkat had written a single word, exactly how she would have written it.

_Y3S._

She sat tasting the word on the paper, making sure that was what it said. But that couldn't be right. 'Yes' was not an answer to her question. She got online and tried to troll Karkat for an explanation.

_GC: K4RK4T, 3XPL41N YOURS3LF!_

_GC: 4R3 YOU TH3R3?_

_GC: WH4T DO YOU M34N, Y3S?_

_GC: 4NSW3R M3!_

There was no response. She huffed in annoyance and got up. When she got to Karkat's desk, he was not there. All she smelled was a trail of mustard blood and one of Gamzee's horns. Feeling suddenly silly, she picked it up and honked it. It made a delightful sound, and she grinned. Then she hastily put the horn down and got back to serious mode. She had to figure out what was going on. Her guess was that Karkat still hadn't taken care of Sollux's body, and while he'd been distracted by her letter, Gamzee had run off with the body to do... to do whatever perverted thing he did with dead bodies. Terezi was pretty sure he'd kissed Kanaya's, but what about Sollux? Sollux was alive, and blind and toothless. The guy had gotten like... three dream selves, or something. The lucky guy.

She guessed there was a possibility that Gamzee was having sloppy makeouts with Sollux's corpse. That was a sort of gross thought, even though technically trolls weren't supposed to care about stuff like that. There was nothing wrong with it. But it sounded like a thought Dave would have, and that was what caused her initial grossed-out reaction. She shuttered when she remembered all the gross things he'd said about grubs and buckets. Then her face flushed, and she banished the attendant images from her mind.

_No, I will not be Dave. I will never be Dave._ She told herself.

She followed the trail of blood through the lab, ending up in Gamzee's room. The trail stopped there, so she began looking around for signs of Gamzee or Sollux's corpse. There were none.

"I swear, Gamzee! If' you're in there making out with Sollux's corpse, I'll ditch the Karkat act and totally go Kanaya on you!" Karkat yelled on the other side of the door. "I'm gonna borrow her chainsaw and everything! Don't you test me!"

Then the door burst open and Karkat was staring at her, wide eyed. She grinned.

"Don't worry, Karkat. Gamzee is definitely not in here making out with Sollux's corpse." she said.

"Terezi?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Yeah." she said. "But seriously, what do you mean 'yes'?"

"It just means what it means." Karkat said.

"Answer me, Vantas!" Terezi said, trying to be threatening.

"I did answer you, Pyrope." Karkat said.

"Gosh darn it, Karkat." Terezi said. She sighed. "Would you please stop speaking in riddles and tell me what you mean?"

"Listen. I don't know what kind of relationship we have either. I'm agreeing with you, that there is no one quadrant we're in." he said. "If you think the humans are confused by the grid, you should see some of us trolls."

They were both silent for a moment. Terezi felt those flushed feelings again, and almost thought Karkat was having the same feelings. But then that old memory came back to her, and she pushed the feelings away.

"Want to go find Gamzee now?" Terezi asked. "We'll probably find him faster if we work together."

"Yeah. Let's do that." Karkat said. She took his warm hand and they walked out of Gamzee's room, in search of the Highblood and the corpse.

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><p><strong>AN**

Me: Aww yeah!

Kayla: Terezi and Karkat?

Derek: dude, I thought you hated Karkat.

Me: I do. But I love Terezi, and I think she and Karkat make a good match.

Kayla: whatever. Can you do an actual match now?

Derek: yeah, like Equius and Aradia.

Kayla: didn't you just love that part when Equius gave her the robot?

Derek: that was so funny!

Me: nah, I think I'll go with Vriska and Tavros instead.

Kayla and Derek: aww...


	2. The Sp8der and the Flyyyyyyyy

**A/N** Okay. I hope you guys enjoyed 'My d34r K1sm3s1s'. I know I did! But that's just the first story in my anthology of Homestuck tales. Now it's time for the next story, 'The Sp8der and the Flyyyyyyyy'. Awesome title, right? Let's go!

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><p>Vriska looked around her room. Everything was in its place, even her dice. Her D4's were still scattered about the floor. She made a mental note to be careful not to step on those. It was a little strange that she was in her room. Perhaps that whole adventure had just been a dream. She wasn't wearing her usual outfit, but instead was wearing a pretty white dress. It was somehow familiar to her, but she couldn't remember. Perhaps it was a new nightdress.<p>

Floating in the center of the room was a confused looking troll, wearing all green, with long, attractive horns. Who was this mysterious stranger? This mysterious and handsome green stranger. Not like any stranger she'd ever met. His horns were so startlingly beautiful, he had to be someone important. Nothing would make sense, otherwise.

Of course! It was all coming back to her. This was the legendary Pupa Pan, probably come through her open window while she was asleep. He'd have his special stardust, for sure. She used to have some lying around, but that had just been glitter. And then the handsome young troll would splash her with that stardust and whisk her away to...

No, wait. It was just Tavros.

The sense of awe was replaced by contempt. _Ugh. Not __this__ loser again. I thought I killed him altready._ She thought. She sneered.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. He turned to face her and stared for a moment, dumbstruck.

"Wh... what am... I... doing here?" he asked, in his usual faltering manner. It might have been cute if she didn't hate him so much. "Wh... what are... you... doing here?"

"This is my room, idiot. And you're dead, anyway." she said. Although, if it had all been a dream, then perhaps he wasn't dead. But his eyes were white and blank, like Aradia's.

"N-n-n-no! This isn't really... uh... your room." he said. "You... you see? Cause... cause you're dead too. We... we're... in a dream bubble."

"A dream bubble? Fairy bullcrap." she said. "I'm not dead."

"Y-yes... you... you are. Dead." he said. "Your eyes are... are white... like Aradia's."

"Shut up, Pupa. I'm not dead." she said.

"Well... do... do you... remember anything?" he asked. "Anything about... about where we are?"

Then something came back to her. She realized why the scene felt so familliar. She remembered the outfits and the setting and... everything.

"I do." she said. "I remember we were playing that game. And I was here, waiting for you so we could adventure together."

"Right..." Tavros said.

"And then I fell asleep, and you came in on your pretty red rocket-chair and got caught in my web." she said.

"Y-yes, that's exactly h-how it h-happened." Tavros said. He was stammering more than usual. Strange. But more of the memory came to her.

"And I thought you were actually Pupa Pan for a minute, because I was still sleepy." she said. "And you were lying helpless on the ground, but I thought you were looking for your shadow."

"Uh... y-yeah... sh-sure." he said.

"Then I tried to revive you with my special stardust, but it was just glitter." she said.

"Oh... okay... I remember that." Tavros said.

"So it didn't work, and you were still stuck on the floor. So I..." she paused, trying to remember. "I thought that either magic was crap, or that you hadn't been having happy thoughts..."

Tavros was shaking and obviously nervous. Vriska couldn't remember what had happened next. She thought really hard. She remembered Tavros-Pupa had been stuck on the floor. She remembered the stardust. She remembered he might not have been thinking happy thoughts.

"So I decided to make you have happy thoughts." Vriska said. "And I picked you up off the ground and... oh."

"Y-y-yeah." Tavros said. His face flushed, and she felt hers doing the same. "Oh."

"But that doesn't matter because this is just a dream. And I'm not dead." she said.

"I... I know what you... mean." he said. "When I... died... I didn't believe... it either."

"I'm not dead!" she insisted. She turned her back on him and sat down at her desk.

"I... I mean... If I hadn't seen... Terezi and... my dead... body... I-I might have... never... believed it." he said.

"Wait. What did you see?" she asked, turning to face him.

"W-w-well... I... I was in my h-house a-after I died, r-right? B-but it w-was a d-d-dream bubble. N-not really my... h-house." he said. His voice was getting really shaky. "And... and I th-thought th-that it had j-just been a d-d-dream. I... I was in m-my wheelchair and everything."

"But I'm not dead." she said again. She remembered the outfit she was wearing, and it brought back a wash of bad memories."How much longer do I have to wear this?"

She lifted the sheer white fabric a little, so he could see what he meant. His face flushed again.

"Uh... y-you can... change it... anytime you... want. All you h-have to d-do is... imagine uh... another outfit." he said. "S-s-sorry... I... I thought you... knew."

She stood up, not believing him, and walked over to her closet.

"Turn around and get back to the story, Pupa." she ordered. Tavros sighed and turned around as she rifled through her closet. Nothing she wanted to wear was in there.

"Anyway... I-I watched as I r-ran u-up to y-you, l-lance ab-ablaze... and th-then you took it f-from m-me and... and killed m-me." Tavros stammered. "And then m-my b-b-body f-fell off the roof... and it... it l-landed b-behind Terezi."

They were all old outfits, old costumes. Too big, too small, too old. She'd worn out all those outfits. The one like her ancestor used to wear was pretty cool, though. Marquise Mindfang was the coolest troll ever. She remembered the journal entries. A lot of them explained exactly how she felt. A few of the other trolls mentioned in the journal, she could tell, were ancestors of her friends. Like the Subjugglator (obviously Gamzee), and Neophyte Redglare (Terezi, duh).

Others, though, were harder to tell. Like she'd never quite figured out who Dualscar was. Eridan? Tavros? Equius, maybe?

She'd tried having a Kismesissitude with Tavros, but the flame had long since sputtered and died, and now the coals of rage had completely cooled. They had nothing.

And Kanaya had chopped Eridan in half with a chainsaw before their rivalry could really blossom.

Then she remembered that Equius's ancestor had played a different part in the story. Then who was Dualscar?

She guessed that maybe male ancestors could have female offspring. But the only real relationship she'd had with another female troll had been Terezi, and her ancestor was Redglare, and their relationship was complicated, anyway. And she and Aradia used to have something, but... she was pretty sure that had been settled, whatever it was.

She realized that Tavros had stopped talking.

"Talk, Pupa." Vriska demanded.

"Uh... a-are y-you d-done... changing yet?" Tavros asked.

"No, get back to the story." she said. She couldn't see anything she felt like wearing. Where was her usual outfit? She missed her black shirt, jacket, and half-sunglasses. And the pants. Heck, she missed any pants right then. Dresses sucked. The black tights just weren't working for her.

"W-well... a-after I l-landed, d-dead, T-T-Terezi started d-doing th-this cute investigation th-thing. Sh-she got out s-some of h-her d-dragon toys, and d-d-dusted f-for prints." he said.

"But she knew it was me." she said.

"N-n-naturally. Sh-she j-just pretended it m-might h-have b-been someone else b-because otherwise... uh... i-it w-w-wouldn't h-have b-been f-fun." he said. "H-hey. Uh... a-are y-you d-d-done y-yet?"

"You know, the girl humans on Earth take hours to get ready." she said. "You might want to learn a little patience in case you and Jade ever go on an Earth date."

She said it mockingly, of course. She knew that he and Jade would never be together, especially not now that he was dead.

"J-j-just imagine an outfit, already." he said. She glanced up to make sure he wasn't looking. It just felt weird having him in her room when she was changing, even if it was an imagination thing. She sighed and imagined her favorite outfit. The black shirt with her sign. The half-sunglasses that sort of acted as a crude eye patch to hide her freaky spider eye. The jacket. The pants. Oh yes, she could not wait for the pants! No stupid fairy wings, no dumb dress.

She looked down and she was now wearing her usual outfit.

"And... and th-then..." Tavros said.

"Aww yeah!" Vriska screamed, triumphantly. Tavros wheeled around and Vriska smacked him with her metal arm. "I told you to turn around, Pupa."

"S-sorry... I just... I thought..." Tavros stammered. His face flushed and he started to turn back around. She stopped him.

"Just finish the story. What did Terezi do then?" she asked.

"Uh... n-nothing... sh-sh-she d-did... n-n-nothing..." he said. He was shaking.

"Lies!" she said. "What did she do? Spit it out, Pupa!"

"Sh-sh-she... uh... she t-t-tried t-to... uh..." he said.

"Tried to what?" she asked, growing impatient.

"T-to... uh... to r-r-re-re-rev-revi..." he stuttered. She raised her robot arm to smack him again. "Revive me! She tried to revive me!"

Vriska's jaw dropped, and her arm fell limply to her side. The implications of Terezi's action were enormous. Tavros was basically saying that Terezi had kissed him. But whether her actions had been romantically or dutifully inclined, it put Vriska in a hard spot. Either Terezi had tried to undo the culling Vriska had put so much effort into, out of a sense of justice, or she'd just had some sick desire to have sloppy makeouts with Tavros.

The bottom line was that Terezi was, one way or another, trying to usurp her authority. Green-bloods could not rise above blue-bloods like that. It simply wasn't right. She knew Equius would have agreed with her.

"N-now... oh! I almost f-forgot." Tavros said. "J-Jade h-has b-been captured by K-Karkat and S-Sollux and G-Gamzee. And... and I have to go rescue her before they wake up and she escapes."

"So what are you doing here?" Vriska asked.

"I was headed to the dream bubble they took her too, and then yours just popped up, so I accidentally came in here instead." Tavros said. He sounded less nervous, but his words were still awkward and uneasy. "So... until you realize just how dead you are... I really can't h-help you. I've got to go."

He floated away, out of her window and beyond. Or so she thought. She had been about to sit back down at her desk when she saw a flash of green. Maybe he was waitiung for her. Maybe he hadn't really left, and he had just made the excuse to get away for a while. But when she looked out the window, she instead saw Terezi and... herself.

Terezi was wearing her role-playing outfit, with her dragon and staff and everything. She was wearing her god-tier outfit, about to leave and confront Jack. She remembered. She remembered Terezi wanting justice. She remembered the coin flip, manipulating it and making it land good heads so she would get away. And then... she couldn't remember anything after that.

She watched, and remembered. She was just about to fly off to confront Jack, and then, just as she had spread her wings, Terezi...

Stabbed her in the back.

An image of a clock came unbidden to her mind. One side said Heroic, the other said Just. The clock ticked and tocked back and forth, then slowed. It stopped on Just.

"Oh my gosh. Pupa was right." Vriska said.

She was dead.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

Me (flops arms up and down): what now?

Kayla (mimics Alana): what now?

Derek: you just got trolled, that's what!

Me: sorry, that was a really stupid video.

Derek: I agree. Somebody made like fifty of those things.

Kayla: but seriously, what now?

Me: uh... maybe I'll write another Terezi one. With Dave this time, I think.

Kayla: but... but...

Derek: what about Equius and Aradia?

Me: I don't have a story idea for them yet! Gosh!


	3. I HOPE YOU DANCE

**A/N** next up is a new story in the real world, one mainly about Terezi, Dave, and Karkat. It's called I HOPE YOU DANCE. Cool?

Cool.

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><p>Karkat rounded the corner and saw Dave and Terezi. They were talking. He sighed with relief, inwardly. Just talking. Not having troll-human sloppy makeouts. He'd kept a close eye on them, making sure they stayed at least arm's length apart. If they got closer, he'd interfere. He'd go up to them and strike up a conversation with Terezi, or Dave. To separate them. To keep John's prediction from coming true.<p>

Oh, how he hated John. Why did he even think of that?

"Please?" Terezi asked.

"No." Dave said.

"Pretty please?" Terezi asked.

"No." Dave said. He started to walk away.

"Then later, please?" she asked.

"No." he said.

"But, Dave!" Terezi said. He turned to face her again.

"No Terezi!" Dave yelled. "I'm not having a dance party with you! Not now, not ever!"

Terezi looked at the ground. Dave started to walk away again.

"But Dave, you promised." she said.

She sounded so vulnerable, so heartbroken. Karkat bit his lip, and restrained himself. Dave kept walking. He didn't even miss a step. Karkat saw a thin trail of green tears running down Terezi's cheeks. She turned and ran off. Karkat knew he hated Dave, but seeing him make Terezi cry like a heartless jerk made him hate the guy even more.

If that was even possible.

Old memories weighing heavily on Karkat's mind, he went to find Dave. He caught up with the guy quickly enough, Dave really hadn't gotten very far.

"Hey, Dave." Karkat said. "I want to talk to you."

"Not now, Karkat." Dave said. "I'm not in the mood to school you."

"No, I'm not here to fight. I'm not here for one of your silly rap battles. I just want to talk." Karkat said.

"Talk? Really?" Dave asked. "What about?"

_Okay, he's open to it. I just can't start in on hounding him about Terezi, though. I need to take a different approach..._ Karkat thought.  
>"I've had something on my mind lately. A horrible memory that won't stop haunting me." Karkat said. "I think that maybe, if I talk to someone about it, it will leave me alone."<p>

"Why don't you talk to Sollux? Or Gamzee?" Dave asked. "Or, I don't know, Terezi?"

"Sollux wouldn't understand. Gamzee would just start honking." Karkat said. "And I can't find Terezi anywhere. I'm not sure I'd want to talk to her about it, anyway."

"Well, Rose is the therapist, not me." Dave said.

"I don't know what a therapist is. Is it anything like an Auspistice?" Karkat asked.

"Uh..." Dave said. "A therapist is someone who listens to your problems."

"Hmm. Never mind, then." Karkat said. "Rose is kinda... grimdark. Not sure I want to go down that road."

"Kanaya?" Dave asked.

"I'm worried she'll go all rainbow-drinker on me." Karkat said. "And before you ask, Aradia and I were never very close."

"Okay, shoot. What's this memory?" Dave asked.

"A long time ago, way, way back in the day, before all this crap happened, Terezi and I were... kinda friends." Karkat said. "I mean, our relationship has always been complicated, but we didn't always hate each other this much."

"Terezi's relationships are all kinda complicated, though." Dave said.

"Don't I know it." Karkat said. "Well, she used to come over to my hive, and we'd hang out. You know, as friends. You humans do that too, right?"

"Of course. Except we call them houses. Not hives." Dave said. "Hey, I thought you hated everything."

"Pretty much. But back then it was different. Terezi was different. She made my life worth living back then. Nowadays I just wish someone would cull me already. Put me out of my misery."

"Oh." Dave said.

"Anyway, one day we were hanging out, and we got in a fight. I swear, for the life of me, I can't remember what we fought about. I just know it was one of the worst fights we've ever had. It started as yelling, and quickly turned to blows. We beat each other bloody." Karkat said. "I still have the scars."

"Ouch." Dave said.

"And I lost consciousness. I think she might have, too, but like I said, I was unconscious. When I finally came to, I slowly opened my eyes a little. I saw my blood all over the floor, and hers. I was so afraid. I looked around, and saw her sitting up beside me. I saw green running from her eyes, and thought I had gouged them." Karkat said.

"Wait, was she still blind back then?" Dave asked.

"Yeah." Karkat said. "She's been blind for a long time. Anyway, it took me a minute to realize she was crying."

"Crying blood?" Dave asked. Karkat blinked.

"Of course." Karkat said. "What, don't humans cry blood, too?"

"No. Just salty water." Dave said.

"Strange." Karkat said. "Well, I didn't want her to realize I was awake, so I just lied there, scared and helpless. I didn't want to face facts, that I had done wrong and hurt one of my only friends. After a while she left, and then I got up and called my lusus to help me clean up the blood. I felt so guilty."

Karkat paused, trying to decide how he would bring his point home. As the memory continued to wash over him, his vision blurred red. He tried to blink back the tears, but one escaped. He was too late. He shakily wiped the tear away, but not before he heard Dave gasp.

* * *

><p>Dave was angry. Karkat was taking Terezi's side, secretly trying to convince him to go have a dance party with the girl, but covering it up with sappy sob stories. It was a good strategy, and he had to give the guy credit, but all in all, it was <span>not<span> cool. He was so sick of the constant talk of dancing and partying. All life was not a party! He didn't want to go party with her until she faced facts. Actually, in three years they would cease to exist. Or, rather, their world would reset. And as the Knight of Time, he wanted to get as much out of those last three years as he could. And there was no way he wanted to spend it partying with the trolls.

Karkat had fallen silent, and Dave looked up to see his orange-yellow eyes darker and blurry. Karkat blinked rapidly, but a single blood-tear escaped. Karkat quickly wiped away the tear with shaking hands, but not before Dave saw the color.

Red.

Karkat's blood was red, just like Dave's. Not some weird freaky alien color, like green or blue or purple. He couldn't stop the gasp at the revelation. While Dave and Karkat may have been two different species, in blood, they were brothers.

Dave questioned his own sight and grabbed Karkat's hand. He stared at the tiny drop of blood on Karkat's finger for a long time. Yes, he had seen right. The blood was red. Then he looked up into Karkat's eyes and dropped the hand. Karkat wiped the blood away, and his eyes were fearful.

"I... I don't belong." Karkat said. "My blood, it's the most hated color. I'm an outcast among my kind, those who know the truth. That's why I always hide it. My sign is gray, my words are gray, everything is gray. If it wasn't gray, if it was the right color..."

"No one would like you." Dave said.

"Please, don't tell anyone." Karkat said.

"Don't worry. I'll keep your secret. I..." Dave said. He paused, wondering if he could share his own memory, his own experience. No, that was a story for another time. "I won't tell."

Relief visibly washed over Karkat, and he straightened.

"Thanks. But, just one more thing. I know it's none of my business, and this is gonna sound really cheesy, but if you get the choice to sit it out, or dance with Terezi..." Karkat said. "I... I hope you dance."

Dave nodded.

"Sorry, Vriska made me watch some cheesy songs and movie clips before Terezi killed her. Earth media, I swear." Karkat said.

"Ha ha, yeah. Don't let John hear you saying that, though." Dave said. "Listen, I gotta go take care of something. Are you good for talking?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Karkat said.

Dave left and followed the trail of green blood-tears deep into the lab. He found Terezi sitting on the ground. She had taken her red glasses off, and was covering her face with her hands. He sat down next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. She didn't lift her head up, but he heard her sniff the air.

"Hey, Terezi?" Dave asked. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

Terezi didn't answer.

"I mean, you'd just been hounding me relentlessly about the whole party thing, I was kinda fed up with it." Dave said.

Still nothing.

"But... if you still want to... we can clear out a section of the lab, and have the sloppiest dance party in the history of paradox space." Dave said. "Heck, we could even have it in a dream bubble so everyone can be there. Jade, John, Tavros, Vriska... uh... you know, everyone. You like that idea?"

It wasn't like he could even begin to name all the trolls. He only knew a handful of them by name, and most of those he couldn't remember. And the names he could remember, well... he couldn't really remember which troll had which name, either. Except Terezi, Kanaya, Karkat, Gamzee, Aradia, and Sollux. He guessed that was at least half, but those would be at the party, anyway. He tried to gauge her reaction to the names he said. Part of him worried that Vriska was the one Terezi hated.

Or was that Nepeta?

She lifted her head up, finally, and sniffed the air again. Then she picked her glasses back up and put them on. Then she wiped her blood-teary hands off on her pants.

And then the sad, dispassionate frown broke into her usual grin.

"I love that idea." she said.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

Me: they then proceeded to have the sloppiest dance party in the history of paradox space.

Kayla: YAY!

Derek: so, did they really have it in a dream bubble?

Me: yeah, I even drew a picture of the party!

Kayla: I want to see!

Me: well, my printer/scanner is stupid, so I can't put it on the internet yet. But when I can, I'll make it my profile picture.

Derek: cool!


End file.
